1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a trivet and in particular to a trivet which has movable members to create an expandable/collapsible rack much like lazy tongs or a pantagraph mechanism which is supported a predetermined distance above a supporting surface by rotatable pins.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Heretofore various rack type structures have been proposed for holding a hot plate or pan elevated above a horizonal supporting surface. Examples of these prior art structures are disclosed in the following patents:
______________________________________ U.S. Pat. No. Patentee ______________________________________ Des. 181,764 van der Togt Des. 194,547 Satell ______________________________________
The van der Togt U.S. Pat. No. Des. 181,764 discloses an ornamental design for a lazy tongs trivet, the trivet being multilayered and rather ornate. From the drawing of van der Togt, the trivet does not appear to be collapsible.
The Satell U.S. Pat. No. Des. 194,547 discloses an ornamental design for a hot dish holder. Here also it does not appear from the drawing of the dish holder that this dish holder is collapsible.
Also, there have been proposed in non-analogous arts various expandable/rack type structures. See for example the following U.S. patents:
______________________________________ U.S. Pat. No. Patentee ______________________________________ 1.079,385 Atkinson 1,138,498 Moore 4,497,413 Tocci ______________________________________
The non-analogous Atkinson U.S. Pat. No. 1,079,385 discloses a complex, collapsible stand made of bars pivotably connected in the form of lazy tongs and layered transverse shelflike members also made of pivotally connected bars arranged in the form of lazy tongs, with all the members being pivotally connected with one another in such a manner that the stand may be collapsed, folded and compressed in width as well as in height so as to render the stand reducible as a whole to a small compact body. Particular means are provided for locking the members in the extended state, such as when arranged for use as a stand, and brace bars are provided for imparting rigidity to the stand when arranged for supporting articles. From FIGS. 2 and 3 of the Atkinson patent is seen that the collapsible stand is a multilevel stand and that various structures are provided to provide support for the various shelflike members of the stand.
The non-analogous Moore U.S. Pat. No. 1,138,498 discloses a folding grate which includes a lazy tongs structure for the top, and legs pivotably secured thereto which are so arranged that when the top is collapsed and the legs folded thereagainst, the top will be held against accidental extension. Here the lazy tongs device is provided with end bars having alternately arranged downwardly extending flanges which, when the legs are pivoted toward the flanges, or folded, will engage the opposite flange or bar and hold the lazy tongs in such collapsed state. Also, in the Moore folding grate, in order to prevent spreading of the legs to too great an extent, the lower end bars are provided with rounded upper extremities which are adapted to engage the undersurfaces of upper end bars and thus limit the extension of the grate. Also, this lazy tongs folding grate can only be folded in one dimension, due to the construction of the grate described above.
The non-analogous Tocci U.S. Pat. No. 4,497,413 discloses a rack structure including a novel pivot joint which comprises a pair of superimposed elongate plastic members having through-open barrels of different sizes, one in the other, and a plastic pin with a button on a reduced portion extending through the combined barrels and securing all three members together in a pivot relation. Such pivot structure is best illustrated in FIG. 2 of this patent and the rack is utilized as an expanding rack for hanging garments thereon, the pin fasteners acting to form garment hangers.
As will be described in greater detail hereinafter, none of the prior art structures described above disclose or suggest a collapsible/expandable trivet of the present invention, the trivet being compressible in either the length or bredth dimension thereof and utilizing pins which act as legs for the trivet to rotatably fix various joints and utilizing rivet caps at other junctions or joints between the frame members in a lazy tongs or a pantagraph mechanism.